Category: Politics-Korea

So what else does North Korea have to do to the ROK to gain primary enemy status?:

Yoo: “Is North Korea our primary enemy?”
Moon: “Such a designation must not be made by president. If you become president, Mr. Yoo, you yourself would also have to solve inter-Korean problems.”
Yoo: “This is nonsense the commander in chief cannot call North Korea our primary enemy.”

Bareun Party candidate Yoo Seong-min asked Democratic Party’s Moon Jae-in if North Korea is the primary enemy.

Moon responded that presidents should not label the North as such as the job requires solving inter-Korean problems.

As Moon avoided answering the question, Yoo said it was nonsense that a candidate for commander in chief cannot identify North Korea as an enemy.  [KBS World Radio]

You can read more at the link.

To counter charges by opponents that he is pro-NK ("jongbook"), Moon Jae-In started highlighting his service in special operations. pic.twitter.com/nUKGQwz6cq

— Noon in Korea (@NoonInKorea) May 5, 2017

In this Washington Post interview the likely next President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in states that he is not too happy with the deployment of the THAAD missile defense system before he becomes President:

With Moon pledging to review the Park government’s decision to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antimissile system, the U.S. military has acted swiftly to get it up and running. This has sparked widespread criticism here that the United States is trying to make it difficult, if not impossible, for Moon to reverse it.

The final components for THAAD were taken to the site in the middle of the night last week, triggering protests, and the system became operational Monday. It is designed to shoot down North Korean missiles, but many in South Korea fear it will make them more of a target.

“It is not desirable for the [caretaker] South Korean government to deploy THAAD hastily at this politically sensitive time, with the presidential election approaching, and without going through the democratic process, an environmental assessment or a public hearing,” said Moon, sitting on the floor in a Korean restaurant after an evening rally in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

“Would it happen this way in the United States? Could the administration make a unilateral decision without following democratic procedures, without ratification or agreement by Congress?”

Privately, Moon aides say they are “furious” about what they see as the expedited installation of THAAD. U.S. Forces Korea said the deployment is in line with plans to have the system operational as soon as possible.  [Washington Post]

You can read more at the link, but the US President makes decisions all the time without ratification or agreement by Congress.

How Moon Jae-in rode a wave of violent anti-Americanism from obscurity to power https://t.co/5CMsxVeX47

— Joshua Stanton (@freekorea_us) April 26, 2017

I could have just as easily titled this posting as being “Moon Jae-in Vows To Help North Korea Build Nuclear Weapons and Missiles” because that is what the Sunshine Policy allowed North Korea to do:

Moon pledged that South Korea will play a bigger role in efforts to denuclearize the North and push for denuclearization based on simultaneous actions by stakeholders instead of demanding the North first show its resolve to give up atomic weapons.

The front-runner candidate said he will carry out former President Kim Dae-jung’s “Sunshine Policy” to engage with the North to ultimately persuade Pyongyang to change. [Yonhap]

I wonder what Moon means by simultaneous actions?  Is that code for giving North Korea billions of dollars in aid for them to pretend they are not building nuclear weapons and missiles and then have them tear up the deal at a time of their choosing, launch provocations, and then demand a new deal?  That is what historically the Sunshine Policy has been.

The gap is now 11% bet. Moon(41%) & Ahn(30%). But undec voters went up to 12% as 15 candidates made it to the ballothttps://t.co/O8a1kCBllX

— Noon in Korea (@NoonInKorea) April 21, 2017

This was a well known controversy back in 2007

A former top diplomat on Friday disclosed a document to back up his claim that Seoul officials consulted North Korea before a key U.N. vote in 2007. It added fuel to a political fire that has engulfed presidential front-runner Moon Jae-in, who was then a chief presidential aide.

In October, Song Min-soon published a memoir in which he said that South Korea abstained in a vote for the 2007 U.N. resolution on North Korea’s human rights violations after discussing the issue with Pyongyang officials.

Song served as the foreign minister from 2006 to 2008 in the liberal Roh Moo-hyun government.

Moon, who was the presidential chief of staff and involved in the decision, has claimed Song’s allegation is not true.

In an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo daily, Song disclosed the document he alleged was made by the then-presidential office based on secret communications with the North.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but long time ROK Heads may remember that the Roh Moo-hyun years were when the South Korean government was actually giving more money to North Korea to help them build nuclear weapons and missiles then for the upkeep of the US-ROK alliance.

According to the article Park is accused of taking and soliciting bribes.  Have the prosecutors finally found hard evidence that she actually took money because we have not seen it yet?:

South Korean prosecutors indicted jailed former President Park Geun-hye Monday as they wrapped up a six-month probe into the corruption and influence-peddling scandal that brought her down last month.

Park has been charged with bribery, abuse of power, coercion and leaking government secrets in 18 suspected crimes, mostly involving her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil and former key aides.

Park became the country’s third former president to stand trial over corruption allegations, after Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.

In the indictment, the prosecutors accused Park of taking and soliciting bribes worth 59.2 billion won ($52 million) from three conglomerates — Samsung, Lotte and SK — for herself or her friend.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link, but Park is facing 10 years in jail if convicted.

A foreign woman married to a South Korean man casts a ballot at a multicultural center in Seoul on April 14, 2017, as part of a hands-on program in the runup to the May 9 presidential election. (Yonhap)

It looks like the Moon Jae-in campaign is resorting to the fake news strategy to take out another rival like they did Ban Ki-moon:

The People’s Party made public key private information on Tuesday surrounding the daughter of its presidential candidate, Ahn Cheol-soo, in an attempt to put an end to snowballing speculation surrounding her lifestyle.

Rep. Son Kum-ju, senior spokesman of the party, held a press conference and disclosed the personal assets of Ahn Surl-hee, the presidential candidate’s 28-year-old daughter. “As of April 2017, she owns about 112 million won [$97,689] worth of cash deposits and insurance policies,” he said. “She also owns a car worth about $20,000 at the current market value.”

Son said her assets came from her parents and grandparents over a long period of time. She also saved some of her annual income, worth up to 40 million won, he added.

Ahn’s daughter is currently attending a doctoral program at Stanford University. She is working as a teaching assistant.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but the Moon campaign is trying to claim that Ahn’s daughter is a tax evader.